Start Date
10-3-2017 2:00 PM
End Date
10-3-2017 3:30 PM
Abstract Text
Background:
File-sharing and on-line piracy have caught great public attention. There is a public debate on whether or not we should close torrenting sites like Piratedbay.com. Copyright holders argue yes and claim substantial loss due to filesharing while Pirates claim that file-sharing is welfare-improving and the effects on sale are negligible. Right now no consensus has been reached on how file-sharing affects industry revenue in economics literature.
Methods:
Using a novel dataset of downloads from Bit-Torrent network, this paper quantifies the effects of file-sharing on movie box-office revenue. I estimate a random coefficient demand model of movies to quantify the effects of file-sharing.
Results:
I also quantify pirated consumption's spillover effect on box-office. Current version of estimation result show that replacement rate of piracy on box-office is not negligible. In addition, spillover effect from pirated consumption is of limited contribution to movie box-office revenue.
Discussion & Conclusion:
This paper estimate the effect of file-sharing on box-office revenue and consumer welfare. THe result confirm that there're indeed loss due to file-sharing and file-sharing also substantially improve consumer welfare. However I did not find evidence of a strong spillover effects.
Interdisciplinary Reflection: Concepts and techniques from the Economics and Computer science is combined.
P14. Estimating the Effects of File-sharing on Movie Box-office
Background:
File-sharing and on-line piracy have caught great public attention. There is a public debate on whether or not we should close torrenting sites like Piratedbay.com. Copyright holders argue yes and claim substantial loss due to filesharing while Pirates claim that file-sharing is welfare-improving and the effects on sale are negligible. Right now no consensus has been reached on how file-sharing affects industry revenue in economics literature.
Methods:
Using a novel dataset of downloads from Bit-Torrent network, this paper quantifies the effects of file-sharing on movie box-office revenue. I estimate a random coefficient demand model of movies to quantify the effects of file-sharing.
Results:
I also quantify pirated consumption's spillover effect on box-office. Current version of estimation result show that replacement rate of piracy on box-office is not negligible. In addition, spillover effect from pirated consumption is of limited contribution to movie box-office revenue.
Discussion & Conclusion:
This paper estimate the effect of file-sharing on box-office revenue and consumer welfare. THe result confirm that there're indeed loss due to file-sharing and file-sharing also substantially improve consumer welfare. However I did not find evidence of a strong spillover effects.
Interdisciplinary Reflection: Concepts and techniques from the Economics and Computer science is combined.